Please save the Reef

OUR Reef could be the biggest employer, it could be for everyone forever if we take care of it now.

Our Reef is the most incredible ecosystem, home to thousands of fish, corals, turtles and dugongs.

All Australians could be incredibly proud that this unique system is on our doorstep and we need to care for it, like we would take care of our own family.

I used to be so proud to say I lived on the doorstep of the Great Barrier Reef.

But earlier this year, a muddy plume of polluted water hit our Reef. It was so big you could see it from space. Science proves this affects this delicate system. Our Reef is being crippled by chemical pollution and farm run-off at a time when it needs to be strong and resilient in the face of rapidly warming oceans. The Queensland Government has proposed laws that would limit the amount of pollution allowed to flow into the Reef’s waters.

Only 11 per cent of cane growers have been doing the right thing. They have been massively outnumbered by growers who have continued to allow polluted run-off to enter waterways.

The fact that the Canegrowers group is also now trying to attack the science, while claiming they are doing the right thing to protect it, is deeply disappointing. Big money is being spent by the Canegrowers group to discredit scientific facts.

Why is this group trying to discredit the science? For sheer profit with no regard for the future.

Immediate gratification for these farmers with no regard for future employment, tourism and beauty that our Great Barrier Reef gives to all Australians and the world Romayne Westwood, Port Douglas